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Murray sweeps past Khachanov into French Open quarters

Wawrinka, who could play Murray in the semi-finals, had to have treatment to his lower back during his 7-5 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 win on Court One, which ended French hopes of a first male champion since 1983.The Brit recorded victory in their marathon three-setter at the World Tour Finals in London in November but Nishikori scored a momentous upset when he knocked Murray out of the U.S. Open last summer at the quarterfinal stage, 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.Tonight’s clash will be a repeat of last year’s semi-final which the Briton won in four sets before going on to lose to Novak Djokovic in the final.Murray, who was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros previous year, will meet 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka for a spot in Sunday’s final. “I played one of my best clay-court matches a year ago to get the win against him”. In the other semifinal, nine-time champion and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal faces No. 6 Dominic Thiem, the 23-year-old Austrian who dispatched Djokovic in straight sets.Wawrinka is into the semis for the third straight year and won the second of his three Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros in 2015. Murray isn’t coming off his best match of the tournament, but he still managed to win 45 percent of his return points and broke seven times.”Rafa is playing flawless tennis”, Corretja said.The 30-year-old Murray arrived at Roland Garros with genuine concerns over his form after a mediocre claycourt swing, but with coach Ivan Lendl watching over his shoulder he has rediscovered the winning mentality just in time.World No.1 Andy Murray says he will have to improve if he is to defeat Stan Wawrinka in the French Open semi-finals tonight.The third-seeded Romanian took care of that problem on Monday at the French Open, routing Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.Download the Nigeria Today app from Play store. “He’s tougher to beat in the Slams”, said McEnroe.Wawrinka took a medical timeout midway through the second set, laying down on the sideline and getting massaged by a trainer, but then played well the rest of the way, using his sweet-swinging one-handed backhand to great effect. I think we were both very tense. “It was windy, so the timing was hard, but once I was able to get into a rhythm and keep him away from the baseline, that made the difference”, said Murray.Each match I feel like I’ve played better.Wawrinka awaits in the last four. “It’s winning when you’re not playing your best is more impressive”.”Well, obviously the way I turned the match around, it was not a good first set”, Murray said. He’s a great player.